A monolithic, standard CMOS, fully differential optical receiver with an integrated MSM photodetector

This paper presents a realization of a silicon-based standard CMOS, fully differential optoelectronic integrated receiver based on a metal–semiconductor–metal light detector (MSM photodetector). In the optical receiver, two MSM photodetectors are integrated to convert the incident light signal into a pair of fully differential photogenerated currents. The optoelectronic integrated receiver was designed and implemented in a chartered 0.35 μm, 3.3 V standard CMOS process. For 850 nm wavelength, it achieves a 1 GHz 3 dB bandwidth due to the MSM photodetector's low capacitance and high intrinsic bandwidth. In addition, it has a transimpedance gain of 98.75 dBΩ, and an equivalent input integrated referred noise current of 283 nA from 1 Hz up to –3 dB frequency.